


Wolfgang's Moving Castle

by AdriTriesToWrite



Category: Howl no Ugoku Shiro | Howl's Moving Castle, Mozart l'Opéra Rock - Mozart/Baguian & Guirao
Genre: AU, M/M, Mozalieri - Freeform, Mozart is Howl, Salieri is Sophie, definitely will eventually have some fluff, gonna be really cute, lots of magic and fantasy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:14:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23286877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdriTriesToWrite/pseuds/AdriTriesToWrite
Summary: Antonio Salieri has been living the most uneventful life possible in the tiny hat shop he inherited. That is, until a gorgeous blonde wizard with a peculiar magical castle flip his world upside down.
Relationships: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart/Antonio Salieri
Comments: 5
Kudos: 31





	1. The Hatter

Stitch by stitch. Antonio was finishing up yet another hat. This one wasn’t as pompous as some, but still, it was richly ornamented with wax fruits and fabric flowers. After he finished sewing on the decorations for this one, there were about five more of the same style waiting to be decorated.

If Antonio Salieri said, that he didn’t like his job all that much, he would be absolutely right. He only did hatmaking as a way to fulfill his father’s dying wish to keep the family trade alive. Antonio was a skilled hatter, but he wanted more than just sitting on a stool by a window overlooking the train tracks, sewing pretty ribbons and pinecones on hats the entire day.

He briefly looked out the window. On the broad green field, he saw the famous “Moving castle” making its way. The castle apparently belonged to some wizard, who was the gossip of the town. Rumor had it, that the wizard would swallow the hearts of anybody he wanted whole. However, Antonio never believed rumors.

Through the thick glass, he heard the 5 o’ clock’s train whistle and that was his signal to get out of the workshop to get some fresh pastries for the store from the bakery. Not that he favored the busy main square bakery’s sweets, but his good friend Caterina Cavalieri worked there as a store clerk. And each time that he needed someone to talk, she would soak up all of his troubles like an emotional sponge.

Antonio made his way to the store, which was by this time closed. He found buried under the counter his own hat. Amongst the fancy hats on display, this one looked completely drab with it’s beige straw base and a black ribbon as the only decoration. He put it on in front of one of the mirrors and tried smiling at himself, like a typical customer trying on a new hat, but he found nothing to smile at. His hair hung loosely from the ponytail he always wore and there were dark circles under his eyes from not sleeping due to having hats to finish. His plain dark coat and vest didn’t help him either. Antonio just scowled at his reflection and pulled his hat low over his forehead.

After locking up the main doors, he practically ran to the nearest tram stop, which he knew would take him right to the storefront of the bakery. However, midway, the tram stopped due to an ongoing military parade, so Antonio had to make the other half on foot. Antonio didn’t understand why these parades had to be happening. Sure, there was a war going on, but the soldiers should be fighting, not proudly marching through the streets and trying to seduce one more lady on their way to the battlefield.

Antonio rather took to the lonely winding streets away from the actual parade, since he didn’t want to risk his nerves in the crowds. However, after a while, he bumped into a soldier.

“Hey there, where are you going, cutie?” the soldier said to him slyly. What Antonio really didn’t want now was some drunk soldier hitting on him. Soon, the soldier was joined by one of his drunk pals and no matter how hard he tried to get through, they didn’t look like they were about to let Antonio go.

“Please, let me go!” Antonio tried raising his voice.

“Look, this guy is even cuter when he is trying to look mad.” The soldier slurred, but his eyes focused on something, or rather someone, right behind Salieri. Suddenly, Antonio felt a hand landing on his shoulder and an arm pressed against his back.

“There you are. You wouldn’t believe how long I’ve been looking for you.” A sweet male voice spoke from his right. “Gentlemen, I would appreciate it if you left us alone.” The voice now addressed the soldiers. With a flick of a wrist, the two nuisances almost mechanically walked off.

“Excuse anything they might have done. They are total nutcases.” His savior once again spoke. Only then did Antonio first look him in the face. And he was met with a sight like he’s never seen before. The hand on his shoulder belonged to a dashing stranger with wild blonde hair, which had one long strand curling around his cheek and with the most magical brown eyes he’s ever seen. “Where are you off to? I’ll be your guide.”

“Thank you, but I am just going to the bakery on the square.” Antonio peeped back.

“I’m being followed, so try and look like nothing is going on.” The stranger whispered into his ear as he hooked their arms together and urged Antonio to walk. After Antonio got through his mind that there really was this gorgeous otherworldly man touching him and walking with him, he noticed some weird black shadows creeping behind them, increasing slowly in speed.

“I’m sorry that I pulled you into this. Hold on tight.” The stranger whispered as they sharply turned a corner. In front of them was a dead end. Suddenly, they started running and just when Antonio thought that they would hit the wall, he felt his feet escaping the ground and both him and his unknown companion were in the air, high above the rooftops.

“And now, just keep on walking with your legs straight.” Antonio got instructed and doing as he was told, he found himself walking through the air along with the stranger. They increased their tempo to match the music sounding from the square beneath them and bounced off of the tops of the houses’ towers.

“You see, you are a natural.” The stranger warmly smiled at him and Antonio’s feet almost gave out underneath him. He would have unceremoniously fallen down into the middle of the crowd if his companion wouldn’t be holding his hands tight, making sure that he wasn’t off balance. Soon, they landed on the upper balcony of the bakery. Antonio slowly floated to the ground while the blonde settled on the rail.

“I’ll go and make sure that they don’t follow you, okay?” he asked softly. Antonio could only nod. “That’s my boy.” The stranger smiled wide and jumped off the rail straight down, his pink coat flapping behind him. Antonio quickly ran to look if he was okay, but the man who led him through the sky a few moments ago was nowhere to be seen.


	2. The Witch

It didn’t take long for one of the store clerks to notice Antonio standing on the balcony, dumbly staring off to somewhere, so Antonio sent the clerk to fetch Caterina for him, so that he could talk with her in private. He was still processing the events that transpired a few minutes ago when he heard rushed footsteps and his friend showed up.

As usual, she wore the store’s uniform red dress with a cream apron and had her black hair pulled into a tight bun on top of her head, adorned with the bakery’s headband. She was very pretty and that was the exact reason why she was always selling sweets out front, trying to lure in customers.

“Antonio, why are you up here?” She asked in concern as she hugged him. “Did you fall from the sky?”

“More or so.” He uttered silently. “Can we talk about it in private?”

And so, Caterina led him off to a storage room, where they nestled into flour sacks and Antonio told her his whole story, watching his tongue for any mention of just how handsome he thought that man looked.

“He surely must have been a wizard. But thank God that it wasn’t that wizard Wolfgang.” Caterina exclaimed. “If it was him, he would have eaten your heart right on the spot.”

“Caterina, I am sure that Wolfgang prefers beautiful people. And he also prefers ladies. So you needn’t worry for me.” Antonio said seriously. “Besides, the wizard I met certainly wasn’t Wolfgang. He was so kind to me and I felt like he didn’t want to harm me.”

“Antonio, please, promise me that you’ll try to take care of yourself out there. We live in tough times. I even heard that the Witch of the Waste is wandering through the town.” Caterina begged.

To elaborate on the Witch of the Waste, her real name was Aloysia. She was rumored to be one of the most attractive women in the land, but also infamous for liking to randomly curse people she didn’t fancy.

At that moment, Caterina was called by her coworkers to go back to the counter, but she excused herself for a couple more minutes to see Antonio out through the back exit.

”Antonio, are you sure about continuing to be a hat maker?” Caterina asked as they stood in the little back alley.

“It’s the only way to keep my father’s trade alive.” Antonio said nonchalantly and under his breath he added “I promised him…”

“Because I can see that the work is eating you alive, my friend. Please, take care.” She bittersweetly finished and ran back into the store.

Antonio continued on his way through the narrow streets, until he found a tram stop and got onto the earliest tram back to his store. Just as always, the tram was already packed full of people, so Antonio was left standing on the open doorway platform, holding onto just a single polished pole. The entire way home, he couldn’t get the wizard, who saved him, out of his mind.

When he arrived, it was already starting to get dark, the lamps out on the street lighting up like fireflies. Antonio opened the door to his now dark store, making sure to lock the door and draw the curtains behind himself and lit up a single lamp on the countertop inside. The plethora of head models for the hats threw moody shadows onto the walls.

What broke Antonio out of his reverie was the bell above his store entrance ringing and a lady entered. She was very tall and slim and wore a black dress with a giant hoopskirt, a long pair of gloves with pheasant feathers, a black fur shawl and an elaborate tricone hat obstructed her face. Clearly, she was of a higher social status and liked to show off her wealth. But that didn’t mean she could barge into Antonio’s store way after closing hours.

“I’m sorry, madame, but the store has already closed for today.” Antonio said in the most respectable voice he could muster. “I was sure that I actually locked the door.”

But the lady didn’t seem to mind him. “What a poor shop. Filled with poor hats.” She said. Her voice was melodious, but there was something in it, that made you know this woman was up to no good. She then pushed her hat out of her face, showing Antonio her grey eyes with pink feather eyelashes. “And to me, you look just as poor.”

“I’m sorry, but we are closed.” Said Antonio angrily as he barged his way to the door, holding it open for her. “Please, leave and return tomorrow.”

The unknown lady just chuckled. “If I were you, I would think twice before ordering the Witch of the Waste away.”

At that moment, the dots connected in Antonio’s mind. “The Witch of the Waste…” he uttered horrified and tried running away, but found two footmen outside already blocking his way. All he saw in that moment was Aloysia charging at him, her shawl spread out like demonic wings. He covered his eyes and fell forward onto the carpet.

“You can’t tell anybody about this curse, understood? And even if you wanted to, you won’t be able to.” Aloysia hissed at him from the doorway. “Send my best regards to Wolfgang.”


	3. The Curse

After a while, after getting through the initial shock, Antonio managed to pick himself up from the carpet and he was about to pick up his hat, but the hand that stretched for it didn’t look like his own. It was all wrinkled and looked like the hand of someone really old. As fast as he managed to, Antonio got himself to the nearest mirror and prayed, that this was just a hallucination, but the mirror confirmed his suspicion. 

Aloysia cursed him to look like he was extremely old. His back was bent, his face covered in wrinkles and his before dark brown, almost black hair was a dark gray color.  
The entire night he pondered on what he should do. After all, he couldn’t continue his work, since he would have to come into contact with the store clerks. But he also couldn’t sit cooped up in his room for the rest of his days. But then, he remembered his big brother Francesco. 

Back when they were children, they used to be the best of pals. Practically inseparable. But as soon as Francesco was of age, he was sent into the mountains behind the Wastelands to learn the arts of potion making, herbology and wizardry from one of the famous good witches. Surely, Francesco would find a cure for him.  
So, with a made up mind, Antonio crept out of the hat shop at dawn with modest provisions and asked one of the farmers he met on his way to let him take a ride on his carriage towards the Wastelands. When the farmer arrived at his cottage, Antonio thanked him and continued uphill on foot.

However, he didn’t anticipate that the curse would hinder him this much. He originally expected to be about halfway through the Wastelands by lunchtime, but at noon, he could still clearly see the outline of his hometown.

Antonio stopped for a smaller lunch break to eat his bread and cheese and as he packed up, he heard a rustle from the nearby bushes. A sturdy stick stuck out of the thick green shrubs and Antonio thought, that it could be a good help when he went into the steeper hills. 

He started pulling it out, but along with it, on it’s other end, he pulled out a scarecrow. It had another stick for a pair of outstretched hands, was dressed in a loose patched up dark coat, had a giant turnip for a head with little coals as eyes and a mouth stuck in it and a mop of yellow straw tied atop of it. Definitely not the prettiest sight in the world.  
Antonio secured it firmly into the ground and continued on his way. He didn’t know how or why there was a scarecrow, but he soon dismissed it as a coincidence. He was nearing a more rocky terrain when the dusk approached, coloring everything around in shades of purple and orange. A wind started blowing and from behind, Antonio could hear faint, yet rhythmic tapping.

He turned to look behind only to find the turnip-headed scarecrow somehow magically upright on it’s own, joyfully hopping behind him.

“Please, don’t follow me.” Antonio yelped at the scarecrow. “There surely must be some sort of magic behind this and I had enough of that for the time being.”

Of course, the scarecrow didn’t care and joyfully hopped on, stopping right next to Salieri. Something dropped down from it’s large coat and after closer inspection, Antonio found it to be a walking cane with a carved handle in the shape of a bird.

“Well, thank you. Are you sure I can keep this?” Antonio asked carefully. The scarecrow stood in silent approval. “If you would be so clever and find someplace for me to stay the night, I would be even more thankful.” Antonio added coyly. At that, the scarecrow sharply turned and hopped off into the tall grass surrounding the path. Antonio just smiled. In the Wasteland, there was nothing until you reached the mountains, so the scarecrow would have a hard time looking for shelter. At least Antonio was now rid of the creepy figure.  
As he continued on for an hour more, the sky turned dark blue and the chill started setting in, seeping into Antonio’s bones. He was about to come up to what seemed like a meadow, but he suddenly heard creaking and scraping of metal parts in the distance. 

Out of the mist in front of him first appeared a visibly pleased scarecrow and in it’s tow the infamous moving castle of wizard Wolfgang. 

“When I talked of shelter, I didn’t exactly have this in mind!” Antonio yelled at the scarecrow. But he was cold and hungry and maybe, just maybe, the wizard would take pity over him. Antonio quickly located a door in with a little set of stairs to it and as he was about to open it, the castle started moving. Behind the castle slowly hopped the turnip-headed scarecrow, trying to keep up.

“Thank you so much, Turnip.” Antonio yelled, “You might have a turnip for a head, but you are not half dumb. Surely wizard Wolfgang wouldn’t want to eat such an old heart as mine! Thank you and take care.” And with that, Antonio entered the castle for the first time.


	4. The Demon

The inside of this magical castle looked almost abandoned, since the place was littered with discarded books, food and from every corner hung a cobweb. The only sign of the place being lived in was a small fire burning in the fireplace, which Antonio saw as a perfect opportunity to warm himself up. 

However, the small flame was on it’s last log and surrounded by a heap of ash, so Antonio threw in a log or two.

He sat down on the beaten up chair, that stood in front of the fire place and threw over himself the purple quilt, that was left hanging there. His eyes were about to fall shut when he heard a male voice utter “Damn, boy, that is some wicked curse you got on you. That is gonna be super difficult to break.”

Immediately, he was wide awake, his eyes nailed onto the fire. What looked like a little insignificant flame before turned out to have a face with a bulging pair of eyes, a pointy nose and a wide looking mouth and the top of it looked like some ridiculous wig, which caught on fire. 

“The fire spoke…” Antonio uttered shocked. The flame only rolled it’s pair of eyes.

“Too bad you are cursed to not talk about this curse of yours, because I would bet that there is a juicy story behind it and it would just brighten my lifetime eternally spent in one room.” The flame chatted away, pulling out from behind the logs a pair of hands and parting the ash in front of it.

“Are you perchance the wizard Wolfgang?” Antonio asked carefully. After all the encounters with magic he had in the span of the last 48 hours, he knew he needed to question everything.

“Nope. This fire demon is the farthest away from a wizard you could get. My name is Rosenberg.” The flame introduced itself, spewing a single tiny spark into the ash.

“And, Rosenberg, if I may ask, but would you be able to break my spell?” Antonio asked in a friendly tone. After all, it would never be too bad to have a magical creature on your side in a world such as this.

“That would be easy-peasy. If you can figure out how to break the curse that keeps me chained to this castle like a slave, I would be able to break your curse in a snap.” Rosenberg said, settling his hands on the new logs.

“So basically, you want me to make a deal with a demon.” Salieri uttered skeptically “Are you sure you would be able to keep your promise?”

“I’m a fire demon, you twit. Demons never surely promise something beforehand.” Rosenberg angrily spewed a spark at Antonio.

“Well, look for a savior somewhere else.” Antonio said as he felt himself drifting off into sleep.

“You can’t imagine how hard this job is! I am being exploited here! I have a contract formed with Wolfgang, which keeps me here all the time and he will surely work me to death one day! I am the one who has to constantly look after and move his goddamned castle and he constantly wants me to run hot water!” Rosenberg yelled and his before orange flame now turned red.

“Yeah, you have such hard work…” Antonio sarcastically got out through a yawn and half shut eyes.

“If you could somehow figure out the contract between me and Wolfgang, my spell would surely break!” Rosenberg now sounded as if he was pleading as a last minute resort. “And afterwards, I would surely break yours as well!”

“Very well. It’s a bargain, then…” Antonio said and immediately as the words left his mouth, he fell asleep.

“Hey, grandpa! Grandpa!” Rosenberg tried to awake Antonio, but he was already fast asleep. “Damn, I certainly know how to constantly end up surrounded by idiots.”


	5. The Apprentice

It must have been late morning when Antonio awoke. Rosenberg’s flame was still burning in the fireplace and warm sunshine came in through the windows. Suddenly, he heard a bell near the door ring and soon enough, the fast pitter patter of steps could be heard from upstairs.

He pretended to be asleep just in time for the steps to come down the staircase, from the sound omitting to step normally onto the bottom two steps, but instead jumping.

“Huh, how did this guy get here?” a soft female voice pondered aloud above him. 

“Nannerl, it was the Porthaven door ringing.” Rosenberg sounded from the fireplace and the pitter patter was heard again.

Antonio opened his eyes to see this girl named Nannerl putting on a long cloak with a hood and making her way to the door, above which was a circular dial, which until then, was turned to a green color. Nannerl toyed with the door handle and magically, the dial turned by itself to a blue tile.

Behind the door stood a fat man in a dark suit, tophat and a colorful sash, announcing his title as a mayor. “Good morning, is this the house of the great wizard Mozart?”

“Yes, but he currently isn’t here.” Nannerl answered in a gruff voice.

“This is for him. The war is in full force and the Emperor needs him. Tell him, to sign up as soon as possible.” The mayor said and forced a red and gold envelope into her hands.

At that time, Antonio decided to stop pretending to be asleep and got up to stretch his bones. “Well, how did you manage to get in here?” Nannerl said angrily, the hood of her cloak still up. Apparently, the cloak also came with a fake beard, which was plastered onto Nannerl’s face.

“Rosenberg let me in from the Wastelands.” Antonio calmly replied, throwing a dry log into Rosenberg’s hearth.

“That’s strange. I thought that only wizards and witches lived in the Waste.”

“If he were a wizard, I wouldn’t ever let him step through the door. That’s like one of my main work objectives.” Rosenberg snapped. And at that moment, the doorbell once again rang. “And once again, it is Porthaven.”

Nannerl opened the door to a little girl of about 7 years when Antonio made his way to the window. He was shocked to see a cozy seaside city outside, the seagulls shreaking mid flight and the waves hitting the shore in the distance. The little girl came in while Nannerl concocted her order and asked Antonio, if he was also a wizard. Just when Antonio was about to jokingly say that he was the most terrible wizard of them all, Nannerl shoved a jar into the girl’s arms and showed her out.

“You must understand, we can’t afford to joke around with a customer. It could hurt our popularity with the locals, especially in a place like this one, where a lot of people a superstitious.” Nannerl explained solemnly.

“Talk about joking around. Then why are you walking around wearing a fake beard?” Antonio inquired.

“It isn’t fake, it’s magic.” Nannerl said and to explain her point, she tugged her cape’s hood away with a flourish, making the beard vanish into thin air. Under the hood hid a quite cute looking young girl with light brown curls fastened into a high ponytail, soft brown eyes and a round face. She wore clothes which would be normally considered men’s: a loose shirt underneath a blue waistcoat and a pair of breeches with white stockings. The clothes, however, did suit her and for a wizard in training, these would be much more practical than a hoopskirted dress, which was in fashion.

Suddenly, the bell rang again. “And this time, it’s from Kingsbury!” Nannerl rolled her eyes and tugged down the hood once again. At the door, she once again toyed with the handle, the dial turning to a red color. 

Behind the door stood a tall dressed in a red fur hemmed pelisse with a tall black hat tucked under his arm. “Good morning, does the great wizard Amadeus live here?” the man started and the same conversation as before took place. Antonio went down the steps to get a better look outside, but was amazed when instead of that cozy little seaside town, he saw a majestic bustling city filled with the newest models of the steam powered car and the hats the ladies wore were so utterly tasteless and over the top, that it could be possible only in the royal city of Kingsbury.

“Ey, grandpa, come inside before you will get the door smashed into your nose!” Nannerl yelled and rather not wanting to get the heavy wood into his face, he shut the door himself. Antonio stared down the colorful dial and turned it to the green color. Outside were the misty plains of the Wasteland. He turned it to blue and outside was the seaside village of Porthaven and on red was the grand capital of Kingsbury.

“Okay, that would be enough!” Nannerl yelled, clearly annoyed that Antonio was toying with the magical door dial.

“If you don’t want me touching it, then tell me where the black one goes.” Demanded Antonio regarding the last dial space.

“I don’t know that and please don’t touch it!” Nannerl panicked as Antonio stretched his hand to turn the knob. “I am prohibited from turning it to the black one! Only Wolfgang knows where the doors open with that one.”

“Fine then. Would you care for a breakfast?” Antonio asked as he slowly made his way up the few steps.

“Sure. I was getting a bit hungry anyways.” Nannerl confessed. “I’ll get the food.”

While Antonio tried to somehow tidy up a little space for two on the messy table, he noticed a box of fresh eggs and under a scratched-up metal cover sat a few slabs of first grade bacon. Nannerl immediately returned with a loaf of bread and some butter and started to spread hers.

“Wait, you have bacon and eggs here. Wouldn’t you like some? I could make some in a pan over Rosenberg’s flame.” He asked.

“Only Wolfgang can use Rosenberg for cooking.” Nannerl said while chewing the bread. “Come, sit and the eggs can wait.”

But Antonio, being his stubborn self, already had a pan in hand and tried putting it over Rosenberg, who was pushing it away with all his might. “I am a terrible fire demon, not some measly house fire!” He yelled and stuck out a long tongue. 

“Oh, come on.” Antonio sighed. “You wouldn’t want a splash of water in the face, now would you?” And under his breath he added “Or you wouldn’t want Wolfgang knowing all about our little agreement?"

Rosenberg, with the most fed up face, let his flame under the pan. His eyes appeared at the front of the stove, angrily staring Antonio down. “May all your bacon burn. I should have never let you come in in the first place.” He muttered as the oil in the pan slowly heated up.

“That’s the first time I saw Rosenberg be this obedient.” Nannerl uttered fascinated.

“Do you perhaps have a tea kettle?” Antonio asked.

“Sure, let me find it.” Nannerl said, happy at the prospect of a first warm breakfast in months, and went to dig through a cabinet near the door.

Suddenly, just as Nannerl dug through the various glass vials that were stored there, the dial on the door turned to black and the door opened.


	6. The Wizard

Antonio only heard the door open and shut, since he was preoccupied with the first two strips of bacon not burning to the pan, since Rosenberg was making good on his promise to burn all the food.

“Oh, Wolfgang, welcome home!” Nannerl said excitedly. This made Antonio’s sight snap directly to the figure who just entered. 

From all the rumors he heard, he expected some terrible looking wizard to be standing there. The one person he least expected to be standing there and slowly coming towards him was that blonde stranger that he walked through the sky with two days ago.

He couldn’t see his expression all that well, so Antonio nervously turned back to cooking the bacon. He just hoped Wolfgang didn’t recognize him.

“Rosenberg, what has happened that you are willing to cook breakfast?” The wizard asked in a kind voice and a soft smile crept upon his face. 

“He forced me to do it!” Rosenberg angrily yelled from underneath the pan.

“That isn’t the easiest thing to do, is it?” The young wizard smiled to himself. Then, he bore those big brown eyes straight onto Antonio. “Tell me, who are you?”

“My name is Antonio and Rosenberg hired me to help you with cleaning this dirty place up.” Salieri quickly blurted out the most reasonable answer that came to his mind.

“Wait.” Wolfgang suddenly said, noticing the slowly burning bacon. “Let me take care of it.” And he gently shoved Antonio away so that he could have control over the pan. If he got shoved by anyone else, Antonio would not appreciate it, but this little push was almost nice.

“Could you hand me some more eggs and two more strips of bacon?” Antonio did as told while Wolfgang cracked the eggs open on the edge of the pan and threw the eggshells right into Rosenberg’s mouth.

“Nannerl, get some plates, because I’m ready!” Wolfgang joyfully yelled and split the contents of the pan into three equal meals. The plates Nannerl brought were each from a visibly different set and two of them were chipped. The tea, instead of being in mugs, was poured into soup bowls. 

Just as Antonio sat down and brushed a few crumbs off the table, Nannerl shoved three pieces of cutlery into his vision: two dirty spoons and a dirty fork. “Pick one! The rest is too dirty.” Nannerl said with a smile.

Only with little enthusiasm did Antonio accept the less dirty spoon before wiping it into his shirtsleeves. Meanwhile, Wolfgang dug up a loaf of bread from the hoard of books on the table and started cutting nice and even slices for everyone. The first slice went to Nannerl and the next went to Antonio. And although he didn’t want to admit it, but a bit of blood rushed to Antonio’s cheeks as Wolfgang handed him the bread and gave him a soft smile.

Once he also had a slice on his plate, Wolfgang took hold of his chipped bowl full of tea. “Bon appetite.” He said and took a sip.  
After saying the same, Nannerl eagerly sank her teeth into the meal, trying to furiously cut up the egg white with her spoon while slurping down the yolk. Antonio didn’t know if it was caused by a lack of manners or a frequent lack of fresh warm food.

“So, tell me, Antonio,” Wolfgang said after a while, boring his big brown eyes into Antonio “what is in your pocket?”

Antonio at first didn’t even know he had anything in his pocket to begin with. But once he grabbed something, he started questioning just how Wolfgang could have sensed it.

“Looks like a paper.” Antonio said as he pulled out a folded up red sheet of paper.

“Wait, show it to me.” Wolfgang said and stretched out his hand. Antonio was about to hand it to him, but as soon as the wizard touched the paper, it exploded midair, sending Wolfgang’s hand back with a few sparks. The paper, now open, floated down to the table, where it burnt the symbol on it into the wood. The symbol looked like a crudely drawn figure under an arch of a comet’s tail with a heart in the middle.

“Wolfi, what is it?” Nannerl asked slightly frightened.

“It’s a curse. An old and powerful one.” Wolfgang said while glaring down the imprint. 

“Is this from the Witch of the Waste?” Nannerl asked. But Wolfgang didn’t answer.

Seeming to be reading the lines of the symbol, Wolfgang whispered: “He, who catches a falling star, o heartless man. Your heart shall be mine.” For a moment, he seemed a bit afraid. But just a split second later, his positive tone of voice was back. “We can’t let this stay here.” And with his bare hand, he slowly wiped the symbol away.

Just as the last line vanished with a puff of smoke, Wolfgang withdrew his hand and hid it underneath his coat. “The symbol is gone, but the spell stays on. I hope you enjoy the rest of your meals.” He said and swiftly stood up, taking his plate.

Antonio almost thought that Wolfgang was going to take the food with him, because he looked rather skinny to be skipping a meal, but to Antonio’s disappointment, Wolfgang threw the mostly untouched meal into Rosenberg’s mouth. Well, he thought, there goes that perfectly fine bacon strip.

“Rosenberg, move the castle a hundred kilometers to the east.” And with that, Wolfgang ventured upstairs. “Oh, and don’t forget to run me some hot water into the bathtub.”

“Not again!” Rosenberg sighed.

A moment of silence came upon the room. “So,” Nannerl asked Antonio with narrowed eyes in suspicion “why did you have that? You don’t happen to be working for the Witch of the Waste?”

“Are you crazy? It’s she that- “Antonio raised his voice, but his mouth seemed to glue itself shut once he almost got to talking about the curse. It infuriated him to the point of him smashing his fists into the table. “Damn it! Damn this Witch of the Waste! Wait till I get my hands on her!”


	7. The Cleanup

Right after finishing his breakfast, Antonio rolled up his sleeves and started sweeping the lower floor. The various bugs, rats, caterpillars and mainly spiders fled from Antonio’s broom and vats of soap water. “You better scurry away and not return back!” Antonio yelled feistily after them.

Antonio was gathering the swept-up trash into sacks, that he would probably throw out somewhere in the Waste, when he heard Rosenberg yelling at him: “Hey, Antonio, I’m about to burn out! Help me!”. Antonio took this as an opportunity to get all the ash out of the fireplace. So, carefully, he took the last piece of wood out with Rosenberg hanging onto it for dear life. Until then, he has only seen the top part of Rosenberg, but now, he could see the rest as well. It didn’t look interesting in any way, just a slimy fleshy lump in the middle of the flame Rosenberg was made of. Antonio placed the piece of wood across the top of a metal jug while he swept up the ash.

The peg was rolling slightly with each gust of air from Antonio eagerly cleaning up the ash and Rosenberg was trying to hold on for dear life while the strange lump weighed him down. And when Antonio wasn’t looking, the peg broke, making Rosenberg drop into the jug with a puff of smoke.

At that moment, Rosenberg thought he was done for. But soon, a warm hand took him away from the coldness of the metal and blew life into him. Wolfgang saved them both at the right moment. Rosenberg got happily returned to his hearth, rekindling his bright orange flame. 

Antonio returned back just to see Wolfgang putting Rosenberg into the hearth. The wizard donned a new jacket, cream with purple flowers and golden trims and at first, Antonio thought it a trick of the light, but his hair changed color slightly. Antonio vividly remembered Wolfgang’s hair being a golden blonde, but it now was a lighter, almost white color. 

“Please,” Wolfgang said with a stunning smile, “could you try and not torment my friend in the future?” Antonio just stood there dumbstruck. Wolfgang made his way to the door and turned the dial to the forbidden black part. “Oh, and Nannerl, tell our new cleanup helper to not overdo it with the tidying.” With that, he opened the door and jumped into the nothingness behind it, his coat flapping in the wind.

“Antonio, what did you do?” Nannerl asked carefully.

“He almost murdered me!” Rosenberg sputtered from the hearth. “Remember, if I die, Wolfgang dies with me!”

“I am just doing what you hired me to do and that is cleaning!” Antonio spat back at Rosenberg, taking his mop and bucket, ready to clean the upper floors.

Nannerl quickly ran in front of him and barricaded the stairs. “No! No one’s gonna be tidying up upstairs!”

“If I were you, I would run to hide my treasures before the cleaning.” Antonio said slyly.

Nannerl thought about it for a second, taking off to her room. “Leave my room for last!”

Antonio just chuckled and slowly climbed the stairs. The upper hallway was no better than the lower level. Dust and cobwebs were everywhere. 

The first door Antonio opened was a bathroom. The furnishings were fairly nice, if they, along with the entire room, including the walls, weren’t splattered with various garishly bright colors. The entire room looked as if it had survived multiple unsuccessful art projects. The tub was full of murky gray water, which was still evidently hot. The only clean thing in the room was the mirror, under which stood a shelf full of various unlabeled potion bottles.

The room needed airing out and only forcefully, did Antonio manage to open the window. The sight from it took him away. He was way up in the castle, the ground swiftly moving a decent distance below. The surrounding country was lush with spring green and the mountain peaks still had snowcaps.

“Rosenberg!” He ran back downstairs totally amazed “Are you the one who is moving the castle?”

“Of course I am. Do you see anyone else working here?” Rosenberg answered nonchalantly.

“I underestimated you! You are the hardest worker I’ve ever seen!” Antonio ran excitedly back upstairs as he felt the castle speed up. Nannerl yelled out, that she wasn’t ready to clean her room yet, but Antonio didn’t plan on going there.

He opened a door near Nannerl’s room and on the other side was a balcony with an amazing view. As soon as she sensed that there was so upcoming cleaning, Nannerl joined Antonio. She excitedly pointed to a blue lake in the distance. “That’s the Lake of Stars! We stop here often to let Rosenberg rest a bit and get some water for the castle. Wolfgang loves this place, but too bad he’s away now.”

A sudden banging caught both their attentions. Near the balcony was one of the legs of the castle and from the opening peeked out a battered stick. Nannerl suggested pulling the stick out, but as soon as it was out, Antonio realized that it was that scarecrow he met before. The turnip-headed scarecrow happily jumped about the flat parts of the castle’s structure and Antonio gave up on trying to get rid of the poor thing.

Before they stopped at the lake, Antonio taught Nannerl how to wash clothes and they washed all the heaps of dirty shirts and pants Nannerl could find. Once they arrived, they took long strings and with the help of the scarecrow, they hung the clothes up, leaving them to dry in the last sunny moments of the day.

After finishing with work, Nannerl helped bring out a table with chairs and the two enjoyed a peaceful dinner watching the sun set at the horizon of the sparkling lake.


	8. Wolfgang

Night had fallen. Both Antonio and Nannerl were sound asleep from tiredness. Antonio from all the exciting things he got to do whilst cleaning and Nannerl mostly from the cleanup itself. Antonio made himself a bed under the stairway, near Rosenberg’s hearth. 

It was almost midnight when the door dial turned to black, the hinges creaked open and a tired Wolfgang entered the room. He didn’t look like he usually did however. Most of him was covered in black feathers. Instead of arms he had giant wings, instead of feet a set of claws and his hair was a mop of feathers. 

Every time he went behind the door with the black dial, he was entering a fiery battlefield. The war was rampant and since he kept on refusing to be part of the Emperor’s army of wizards, they automatically viewed him as a traitor. While assessing how far the battle has moved and how much further and where he should move the castle next, he also had to fight his own kind. They would always fight mid air, thus Wolfgang had to temporarily take on a half-bird like form. 

However, with each passing battle, it was getting harder and harder to turn back to his human appearance. He feared that one day, he might end up like the other wizards. They had to be in their flying demon forms all the time and many of them started to lose themselves. They first lost the ability to turn back into a human and then lost their memories.

Wolfgang sat down on the chair in front of the fireplace. He was exhausted, but he had to turn back. It took all his might to actually do it and once he felt the last of the feathers disappear, he drew his coat tight around himself.

Rosenberg popped his head up from behind the longs “I’m telling you, if you continue doing this, you soon won’t be able to turn back. Plus you reek of gunpowder, which is the foulest smell you ever brought here.”

“I had to fight my own kind today.” Wolfgang said exhaustedly. When he first found out he had potential to become a wizard at age 6, he didn’t imagine it going like this.

“Don’t tell me you’ve met the Witch of the Waste!” Rosenberg exclaimed.

“No, it was a bunch of wizards turned into monsters.”

“They’ll soon regret it, once they realize they cannot turn back into humans.” Rosenberg uttered.

“I think they’ve already forgotten what feeling human is like.” Wolfgang somberly noted. “I’m tired. Run me some hot water for the tub, Rosenberg.”

“Come on, not again.” Rosenberg said under his breath.

Wolfgang slowly came to the curtain separated space under the stairs and peeked into it. He immediately noticed a sleeping Antonio, but he was breathless to see Antonio revert to his young appearance in deep sleep. From the beginning, he could sense that old Antonio was under a spell, but he never could have imagined that Antonio was the same guy he walked with through the sky. He already found him quite good looking back then, but seeing him sound asleep, his long hair strewn on the pillow like a halo and reflecting warm light from the hearth, he felt his heart skip a beat. He even would dare say that the white of his night shirt suited him more than the black work clothes he first met him in.

He needed to clear his mind. The tub was ready in express time and as Wolfgang noted in the mirror, the white blonde dye washed out through the day to a sandy color. He did see Antonio silently appreciating his new hair dye choice, so he thought he might try it again, but maybe try to make it stay on longer. 

Ever since he was a little boy, he loved looking at stars. He wanted to be like those shining golden spots of light. Once he had enough wizarding practice, he started to experiment with changing his looks using spells and potions. The first thing to change was his hair color. The one he was born with was so far from the ideal of the stars that so fascinated him. So, through trial and error, he mixed himself a potion to turn his hair into the color of the golden starlight. He also started casting various spells onto his clothing. The flashier, the brighter, the more decorated: the better. He achieved his goal: to look like a star personified.

He got into the tub, blindly taking the vial from the spot where was the white blonde dye. The one thing he didn’t know was that Antonio tidied up his shelf and that there was no way possible he could have put all the bottles back in exactly the same order.


	9. The Meltdown

Antonio awoke to the loud sounds of running water. He panicked at first, but when he realized that it must be Wolfgang filling up another hot bath, he got relieved. He was glad that the wizard was safe and sound. Antonio didn’t know what got into him, but each time he saw the young wizard, he felt warm and his heartbeat always accelerated. 

Once he separated the curtain of his sleeping space, he saw a very annoyed Rosenberg who must have been filling up Wolfgang’s warm water. They greeted one another good morning and after getting dressed, Antonio decided to make breakfast. However, when scouring the cabinets for any fresh food, he only found old, dried-up bread and some withered vegetables. So, he decided to go to the market. 

After waking Nannerl and forcing her out of the bed, Antonio decided to go to the market in Porthaven. Kingsbury did have a famed market, but it probably would be incredibly overpriced, which didn’t suit well with Antonio’s resourceful self. On his way out of Nannerl’s room, he noticed hot steam slipping in thin wisps out of the shut bathroom door. He wanted to at least say hi to Wolfgang, but bathrooms were the most unfit rooms for casual greetings, so he decided to greet him once they return from the market.

Once Nannerl dressed herself, they got on their way. Unlike in the castle, where Nannerl wore breeches and shirts, she put on a dress to wander into Porthaven. “A woman being dressed in men’s clothes was too revolutionary for the small-minded people” she said. For the occasion, she wore a modest blue dress with a petticoat and a jacket, since mornings by the seaside tended to be chilly. Antonio, like always, just wore his black coat.

The market was packed with people and Antonio bought all the essential foods like bread and eggs. Despite Nannerl’s protests, he also bought a few fish. He was in the process of selecting a few more, but, out of nowhere, a siren sounded. 

The fish stand owner apologized and ran to the shore with the rest of the people. In the distance was arriving one of the battleships they sent out a week prior, but it was battered and an ugly black smoke was coming out of it’s cracks. “That was one of our strongest ships” Antonio heard someone in the crowd gasp.

Suddenly, in the corner of his vision, Antonio spotted a tall man-shaped creature. It was as if nobody noticed, but the creature was made of black slime. The same slime that chased him and Wolfgang at their first meeting and that blocked his escape from Aloysia’s curse. This thing being here wasn’t a good sign.

He tugged Nannerl to leave, but suddenly, three bombs fell into the harbor’s water and people started to panic. A giant aircraft flew overhead, dropping flyers over Porthaven’s streets. The soldiers patrolling the streets started yelling for the people to not pick up the flyers, that it’s the enemy’s propaganda. 

Antonio and Nannerl thankfully escaped the chaos. After arriving back, they carefully locked the Porthaven entrance and Nannerl started unpacking the groceries. Antonio was about to sit down in front of Rosenberg’s flame and relax a bit, but as soon as he shut his eyes, a loud despaired shriek sounded from the upper floor.

The fast pacing of steps sounded above, along with loud and dramatic sobbing. This must have been Wolfgang, since no one else was in the castle, but Antonio didn’t have a clue what could have upset the young wizard. 

“Antonio! What did you do to my bathroom shelf?!” Wolfgang yelled angrily, running down the stairs, only a towel wrapped around his midriff. “Look at what you’ve done! My hair turned into this stupid color because of you!”

Wolfgang’s hair was indeed a different color. As opposed to a shade of golden or white blonde, it turned a gingery-orange color. There were patches of a more yellow orange, but never the less, it was undoubtedly orange. 

“What a pretty color!” Antonio blurted out. Back from home, he was used to seeing orange as a washed-out color with a grey or brown sheen, but this orange was so bright that it fascinated him. Plus, in his opinion, it looked good on Wolfgang. Sure, the blonde hair did look great on him, but the orange was also interesting.

“Stop lying to my face! It’s hideous!” Wolfgang cried, tears starting to well up in his eyes. “How many times did I tell you not to overdo it with the tyding?! You just had to tidy my shelf and mess up all my spells! This is a catastrophe!”

Wolfgang covered his face with his hands and threw himself onto the chair in front of the hearth. Suddenly, Antonio noticed that the orange of Wolfgang’s hair started to shift. It went through a burgundy red, royal purple and blue until it stopped at a dark chocolate brown. It was like Antonio’s own hair color before the curse, but a bit warmer. Since he couldn’t see into the young wizard’s face, Antonio tried imagining him as he saw him before with this hair color and it certainly suited Wolfgang in his imagination.

“This color is even lovelier than the one before!” Antonio gently said to Wolfgang, trying to lift his spirits up. Wolfgang lifted his gaze just a bit from his hands, but as soon as he spotted the dark brown color his hair decided to revert to, a new wave of tears came on. He despised the natural color of his hair and for Antonio, who he tried to impress the most with his looks, to see him like this was exactly the thing Wolfgang didn’t want.

“I give up. What purpose is there to life if I can’t be beautiful?” Wolfgang said defeated. For the first time in his life, he felt completely ugly.

Antonio tried to calm him. “Wolfgang, it’s okay. I think it suits you. And if you don’t like it, you can just dye it again, no?” He tried patting the young wizard’s back, but his hand came away with a sticky slime. Wolfgang’s whole body started getting covered in the slime and spooky shadows started coming out of the corners of the room. 

“Wolfgang, don’t do this again! Cut it out!” Rosenberg yelled, genuinely terrified.

“Those are the Spirits of Darkness.” Nannerl said, mildly disturbed as well. “The last time he did this was because a girl dumped him.”

Antonio felt tears push into his eyes. Here was this gorgeous and surprisingly kind wizard, who thought himself hideous and unworthy to live just because his hair changed color. What was Antonio then? A lowly hatter without magical abilities and cursed to look like an old man. If Wolfgang, who was almost perfect in Antonio’s eyes, was undeserving of life, what was he? He couldn’t take it anymore. “I’ve had enough of this, Wolfgang! Unlike you, I’ve never once been beautiful!” Antonio yelled as he felt hot tears starting to spill down his cheeks. He quickly ran for the door and unlocked it to the Wastelands.

Rain was heavily pouring outside mingling with Antonio’s tears. Finally, he let way to how he felt and started sobbing. After a while, he didn’t feel the raindrops hitting his shoulders anymore. Above him was an umbrella being held by the scarecrow, who compassionately looked on with its coal eyes.

“Thanks, Turnip.” Antonio smiled. He felt immensely relieved.

Suddenly, Nannerl opened the door. “Antonio, help me! Wolfgang is refusing to cut it out with his temper tantrum!”

Antonio gladly helped with Wolfgang, who by this point created enough slime to make a meter-wide puddle and to start sliming into Rosenberg’s heart. Nannerl rushed up to put clean warm water into the tub to wash off the slime while Antonio got his out of the chair and upstairs. Both Nannerl and Antonio had their work cut out for them: Nannerl with washing the slime off Wolfgang and Antonio with washing the slime out of everything else.


	10. The Hideout

After some while of letting Wolfgang sort his feelings up alone in his room, Antonio felt like he should maybe pay the wizard a visit. He guessed that Wolfgang might also welcome a drink after all the screaming and crying, so he warmed up a cup of milk and ventured upstairs. He never actually entered Wolfgang’s room, since he had enough worries over Nannerl’s cluttered room, but he knew it was behind the farthest door of the first-floor corridor. The door, unlike the other plain wooden doors, was intricately carved with flowers and stars painted with blue, crimson and gold-leaf. He politely knocked and found the door opening a bit, letting him in.

The room was even more cluttered than Nannerl’s. The walls were covered in an expensive-looking gilded paisley wallpaper. There were multiple cabinets, tables and glass cases, but each of them was cluttered beyond recognition. One cabinet held various glass jars. Some had powdery substances or spices, others had dried berries or herbs. Among them sat smaller ones with precious contents like powdered precious stones or firefly dust. A moderately sized jar was half full of powdered gold. Each jar was meticulously sorted into a shelf by category and had a label written in elegant cursive lettering in black ink.

The tables, aside from holding books, quills, pots of ink and stacks of paper, were also strewn with everything imaginable. A few potion bottles, some magically animated toys, crystals, a deck of playing cards, brushes, a delicate tea set with flowers painted on the cups (which bordered on being tacky),a crystal bowl of sugared candy and even a little log with moss and tiny mushrooms growing out of it.

From the ceiling, which was painted with lapis and gold-leaf to resemble a night sky, hung various pendants, which looked like amulets, various eye-shaped objects, which appeared to blink every few seconds, and a curious tiny chandelier made out of sticks and crystals.

Wolfgang laid motionless in his bed with a giant, towering canopy. He was covered by a blanket patterned with tropical flowers, which matched the numerous pillows around his head. The bed also contained various multi-colored stuffed animals seemingly made out of fabric scraps. 

Antonio closed the door as quietly as possible and came closer to Wolfgang’s bed. He quietly placed the milk on the bedside table and in a hushed tone asked the young wizard if he wanted a sip. Wolfgang just slightly shook his head no. 

“I’ll leave it by your bedside then. Try and drink it while it’s still warm.” Antonio said and made way to go out and go back to cleaning.

“No, please, don’t leave me, Antonio.” Wolfgang said quietly. Instantly, there were butterflies inside Antonio’s stomach and he returned back to the wizard’s bedside and sat on the stool that stood by the dresser.

Wolfgang slowly opened his eyes. He looked deeply worried. “The Witch of the Waste is looking everywhere for me and my castle.” He spoke. 

“Now that you mention it, I saw one of her slime henchmen down in the port when I wend shopping.” Antonio exclaimed, shuddering at the unsettling feeling it gave him.

“I hate to tell you the truth, but I am a coward.” Wolfgang said monotonously. “All the junk in this room is just sorcery to keep her away. Because I’m scared to death of her.”

“Why is she so invested in hunting you down in the first place?”

“A few years ago, when I was just an apprentice, I was interested in her, mainly because of her beauty. So, I approached her. However, she soon showed me what evil her magic possessed and I got so scared that I ran away.” Antonio just sighed to himself. “What’s worse, the king has now ordered me to report to him due to the war. Both as Mozart and as Amadeus.” 

“Wait, how many fake names do you actually use, Wolfgang?” Antonio asked carefully.

“Enough to keep and guarantee my freedom. Mozart is the name I was born with, so I only use it as far as possible from Kingsbury.” 

“Can’t you just simply refuse the king’s invitation?”

“No, because of that thing.” Wolfgang said and pointed to the wall on his left. A dartboard hung there with a roll of parchment pinned to it with various sharp objects like a dagger and a pair of scissors. “That’s the oath I took at the end of my studies at the Academy of Sorcery.”

“Then, why don’t you personally pay the king a visit?” Antonio eagerly exclaimed.

“What?” Wolfgang looked at Antonio with utter shock and horror in his eyes. 

“You’ll just have a nice meeting between the two of you and you’ll tell to his face, that you refuse to work for him in a war!”

“Antonio, you don’t know what the king and the people at court in Kingsbury are like.” Wolfgang sighed.

“But he’s a king, isn’t he? A king should first and foremost think of the wellbeing of his people.” Antonio exclaimed.

“Wait, I got it!” Wolfgang exclaimed loudly. Excitement returned to his voice and he quickly sat up. “You’ll go visit the king instead of me, Antonio!”

“Excuse me?” Antonio asked surprised.

“You’ll go there pretending to be my grand grand uncle or someone like that. You’ll just tell them that I am a complete lazy good for nothing wizard. And maybe, even that old turd Leopold will stop bothering and finally give up on me!” All of Wolfgang’s joyous energy seemed to return with this plan.

“Wait, who’s Leopold?” Antonio asked. He knew the name sounded familiar, but he couldn’t exactly place it.

“He’s the king’s court wizard. But you will be expected, so you won’t need to ask around for him.” Wolfgang finally decided to crawl out from underneath the bedsheets and was excitedly rummaging through his cabinet with potion ingredients. He gathered a few bottles and vials and smiled at Antonio a smile so bright, that Antonio thought he went blind for a second. “Come, we must get you ready for going to Kingsbury.”


End file.
